The fusion of ProMAX and Perl

Henry C. Bland

ProMAX and Perl are two large software packages which, when combined, offer a practical and powerful processing tool for seismic data processing.

ProMAX is one of the most common seismic data processing software systems currently available. It gained popular acceptance in the processing industry because of its wide array of processing operations, its ability to work with large datasets, its ease of use, and its interactive processing tools. Although a wealth of processing modules are supplied with ProMAX, cases arise when relatively simple but unusual tasks are made daunting by limitations of pre-existing process modules. Working as an add-in module for ProMAX, the CREWES Perl Process lets one write ProMAX processing modules without leaving the ProMAX environment. It fills the niche of solving simple, unusual processing tasks that do not warrant full-scale module development (program coding, menu coding, compiling, and linking). It is ideally suited for ad hoc tasks like correcting geometry values in header words or correcting small data errors. With complete access to trace data, it can also be used to implement data processing algorithms. By writing in Perl, one gains access to an extensive library of subroutines that can be harnessed to provide ProMAX with powerful new features. A number of examples illustrate the operation and features of CREWES Perl Process. We show that the fusion of Perl with ProMAX results in a system that is both practical and versatile.